This is a Dead by Daylight rp/ask blog for my au Jake who's... Not quite a survivor, not quite a killer, but something in-between.
Active Events: Feel free to start threads with either the standard Warden or a version from an active Event.
Survivor Arc: Jake’s knife has been taken as punishment for threatening an Entity, and now he has to run trials and face killers as a survivor again for the first time in years.
Corrupted Arc: Jake has been corrupted by a combination of extreme physical pain and the Las Plagas virus, resulting in monstrous form and behavior he will not remember in the future.
About the Game Warden:
At some point during Jake's time in the fog, his role shifted to that of the Game Warden. He serves both as a punishment for complacent killers and as a tool for extracting the fear of being hunted from the ones typically doing the hunting.
When serving as the Game Warden, Jake enters a trial with one killer and four survivors. The survivors role stays the same, however the killer must now try to evade being killed themselves while they make their sacrifices.
Weapon:
A carved obsidian karambit blade shaped like a bird talon. A pair of crow feathers are tied to the handle by black twine.
Abilities:
Ambush Predator: When in the terror radius of a killer, Jake becomes invisible to aura reading perks. On being hit with an attack, the killer's terror radius transfers to Jake and the killer experiences it like a survivor would.
Vengeful Rage: When brought from healthy to injured, Jake enters a rage state. During this state all attacks apply the deep wound status to the killer.
Perks:
Jake has retained his Calm Spirit, Iron Will, and Saboteur perks, only now they apply slightly differently in a trial.
About the Entity:
Jake's Entity is called Chelicerae (or Kel for short). Kel mainly communicates to Jake via unintelligible whispers in the back of his mind and physical sensations, such as spiders crawling over the skin or claws wrapping around the chest or neck. However, she has recently taken on more... mortal-adjacent forms when dealing with other Entities.
About the mun:
You can call me Crow! I’m pretty new to having an ask blog but I’m a seasoned roleplayer. I’m okay with involving violence and gore (as might be expected within the DbD universe) but I would like to generally stay away from sexual themes for my own comfort. (Kissing and manhandling is fine, but anything past that will require prior communication via DMs.)
Blog organization:
Longer threads will have tags with [brackets] for easy searching and blacklisting purposes. Lore info dropped in big chunks in an rp response will be tagged with lore dump.
“I made a deal with my entity, sort of.” He hadn’t meant to at the time, but he doubted that mattered all that much in Eldritch fear god terms. He’d needed a knife and she had provided one, with a catch. “I wanted to kill a killer—a specific one, at the time. I was just fucking pissed at him. I needed him to die so I just… Reached into the fog. And ended up grabbing a knife.”
Even by now he’d never really understood what happened exactly. He knew the basics and the reasoning behind it, but everything else was… hazy.
“After that I guess my role changed. I couldn’t go into the survivor camp anymore, and I figured out that whenever I got into a trial it was my ‘job’ to find the killer and try to kill them. That was… more or less it, I guess, I didn’t find out about the mark until later.”
The knowledge that Kel too was concerned about other Entities in terms of fighting them was worrying and reassuring at the same time. They honestly weren't all that different. Even in the sharing of the power part. Bass had gifted a shard of his soul to his partners to ensure they'd be safe. He had also set aside a part of his feedings for the triplets, weakening himself in the process. So many times he had heard that his family was his greatest weakness, but he did not care. He would not give them up for anything. Not even the promise of ultimate power.
"I had not threatened your power. You still have your Warden all to yourself. And therefore I do not understand where this conversation is heading to," with that explanation, the Entity stood from his spot clearly ready to leave. "Your point has been made and I understand why you're upset. But you should enjoy your meal and not waste my time with your complaints. I do believe that this conversation is concluded."
Bass was still a busy Entity. Especially with the nearing Blight, he had many responsibilities to tend to. And this conversation felt pointless. On one hand Kel was upset about him marking her mortal, on the other her arguments sounded as if he had STOLEN her mortal permanently. And he did not. Knife wasn't even broken. Or voided.
Well, that was certainly disappointing. She did her best to try to get through to him, and at every turn he continued to disrespect her. Still, she could sense the possibility of having an ally in the Bastard, even if it was a strained relationship. Kel decided she would give him one more chance before resorting to throwing him out.
“Eldritch, sit back down.” Her tone was initially commanding, but as she realized it wasn’t as effective as she would like, she switched to a more collected composure. “Eldritch, I am not trying to make an enemy of you. Quite the opposite—I think we could stand to benefit from one another. All I am asking for is the assurance that in the future you offer me the respect I deserve. That includes consulting me before you take it upon yourself to play with my mortals.”
Kel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her talons folding closer to her body. The harsh fluorescent lighting of the office seemed to flicker slightly and dim, and when she opened her eyes again they glowed brighter than before. “I am not a particularly demanding sort, Eldritch. I just don’t believe that much respect is really so much to ask.”
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
…Huh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time he’d been able to see it himself was when…
Jake looked at the robot. “You don’t know what that is?” Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didn’t…
“Yeah, I can elaborate on that,” Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. “But you have to let me out of here first.”
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Fuck fuck fuck. Jake moved as far away from the tools as he could in the small space, his back literally pressed against the wall.
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced to figure out what to do here. “You’re never gonna find out if you don’t talk to me,” he snapped, eying one of the more grisly looking devices. “It’s Entity shit! You’re not gonna figure it out by just cutting me open!”
Jake swallowed, staring back at the robot’s eyepieces. “It’s something I got from my Entity, Kel. I can tell you more, but first I need you to let me out.” He was speaking slowly, clearly, like a person trying to negotiate a hostage situation.
He took a deep breath, trying not to mentally categorize each of the little metal devices around him. For some reason the phrase “eye-scooper” refused to leave his brain. “I’m only human, y’know? Kinda hard for my inferior brain to focus with all this sharp bullshit around me.”
God, he hoped appealing to this thing’s god complex would work. Otherwise his death was going to be very drawn out and very painful.
It seemed to work however... The implements slowly withdrew, folding neatly back into their own little seams.
"There is no guarantee you will remain to deliver your explaination if you are set loose. And you are fully capable of communication from in there. Nutritional slurry will be provided if nessicary."
Ugh. Jake almost would have preferred being vivisected.
But, fuck it. He was alive for now, and that was the damn goal anyway. “I’m gonna pass on the nutrient whatever, thanks.” Jake crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall of the pod, settling in for a long fucking night.
“Fine. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but only if you promise to let me out after.” There was a pause before he added, “or if you’re dead set on taking me apart, do me the favor of knocking me out first. I really don’t want to deal with death by dissection.”
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
…Huh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time he’d been able to see it himself was when…
Jake looked at the robot. “You don’t know what that is?” Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didn’t…
“Yeah, I can elaborate on that,” Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. “But you have to let me out of here first.”
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Fuck fuck fuck. Jake moved as far away from the tools as he could in the small space, his back literally pressed against the wall.
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced to figure out what to do here. “You’re never gonna find out if you don’t talk to me,” he snapped, eying one of the more grisly looking devices. “It’s Entity shit! You’re not gonna figure it out by just cutting me open!”
Jake swallowed, staring back at the robot’s eyepieces. “It’s something I got from my Entity, Kel. I can tell you more, but first I need you to let me out.” He was speaking slowly, clearly, like a person trying to negotiate a hostage situation.
He took a deep breath, trying not to mentally categorize each of the little metal devices around him. For some reason the phrase “eye-scooper” refused to leave his brain. “I’m only human, y’know? Kinda hard for my inferior brain to focus with all this sharp bullshit around me.”
God, he hoped appealing to this thing’s god complex would work. Otherwise his death was going to be very drawn out and very painful.
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
…Huh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time he’d been able to see it himself was when…
Jake looked at the robot. “You don’t know what that is?” Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didn’t…
“Yeah, I can elaborate on that,” Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. “But you have to let me out of here first.”
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Fuck fuck fuck. Jake moved as far away from the tools as he could in the small space, his back literally pressed against the wall.
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced to figure out what to do here. “You’re never gonna find out if you don’t talk to me,” he snapped, eying one of the more grisly looking devices. “It’s Entity shit! You’re not gonna figure it out by just cutting me open!”
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
…Huh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time he’d been able to see it himself was when…
Jake looked at the robot. “You don’t know what that is?” Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didn’t…
“Yeah, I can elaborate on that,” Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. “But you have to let me out of here first.”
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jake’s breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evan’s traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didn’t fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. He’d just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
“I’ve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,” he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. “And I don’t need any growth.” There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach over…
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Jake held onto his wrench, wielding it like a weapon. Which, given the circumstances, wasn’t completely off the mark.
“Nothing fucking decays here,” he shot back, taking another swing at the robot’s arm with the wrench. Unfortunately Hux was a lot more sturdy than the canid design. Hitting at the arm didn’t do anything but frustrate him.
His legs curled instinctively to his chest when he was lifted up, his fingers curling into the collar of his shirt to keep the fabric from choking him. “What fucking testing? What are you even testing for?” His eyes flickered over to the tables and pods of failed experiments, and his blood ran cold at the thought that he might already know the answer. “There’s nothing weird about me!”
"Without growth, there is only stagnation-n." Which was likely the closest thing to accepting a correction as he was likely to give.
"All life forms have ad-dvantages and disadvantages-s. I will prune and graft as needed to opt-timize." He continued, lurching towards an empty pod with clear intent to toss Jake inside of it. The pod next to it had a misshapen form inside that gave a little twitch as they passed it.
"Further testing is required to determine your str-rengths."
Jake stared at the unfortunate test subject with his one good eye, feeling bile rise in his throat. No matter what the testing entailed he doubted it would have the mercy to kill him quickly. Or at all, for that matter.
Actually, what would happen to him if this didn’t kill him? If it just kept him alive, barely functioning but still conscious in the pod? Would the Entity take him back anyway to keep running her trials? Or would he be trapped there in a new kind of hell?
He really didn’t want to find out.
Jake stopped hitting at Hux’s arm with the wrench, instead clinging onto it like a stubborn cat. If he couldn’t get the thing to let go on his terms, he was damn well going to make it difficult to toss him in the pod. “You don’t need to test for anything! There’s nothing about me that’s all that interesting!”
"Inc-correct." The machine took this clingy behaviour in stride, reaching the clung to arm out over the vat, and then simply disengaging it at at shoulder. Pop. And Jake and it both fell into the container which was closed behind them.
"You have unusual influences not seen on other humans of your categorization." He stood by and watched Jake, unmoving aside from the occasional tremor or twitch. "Research is requir-red."
Almost as soon as the pod closed Jake was at the glass, beating his fists against it in a futile attempt to crack the glass. Apparently it was made of pretty strong material, but that didn’t stop him from bruising his knuckles trying to get out.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jake looked up and around at the seal, but it was airtight. He didn’t know if his oxygen would run out in here, or if something else would flood in to replace it. “There’s nothing to research! Let me out of here!”
Not once did he disturb her words, returning to the polite focus on what she had to say. His gaze focused entirely on Kel, despite the way his hand wanted to reach for the wine glass. A strange need to do something with his hands. Anything. Keep them occupied. Was this caused by the nerves? Was this an echo of the past habits of the shell? He couldn't tell. And wasn't give the opportunity to focus on it any longer.
The appearance of the claw made him lift his arms. But despite his hands finding their way to the limb, they didn't pull at the threatening thing. Feeling it pierce his spine, push into his body so close to where his natural form rested. Too worried about the threat, he didn't even question why it didn't hurt. He couldn't take risks. And since Kel had not made an attempt at tearing him out of the shell, perhaps she had other ideas. He'd have to be patient.
And she would soon provide an explanation. One that made him freeze in his seat, despite trying to mask his emotions. Because in that moment, with the aid of Kel's careful choice of words, Bass became concerned. He was using a mortal shell. One that could experience emotions. Perhaps one that could be marked. He never considered that possibility before. Would an Entity be able to form a connection with another god? Why wouldn't that be possible? Wasn't that what Kel was trying to explain?
Even as the claw faded, the strange tightness around his throat remained. It made him rub at his neck, careful not to let his hand move to the back of his nape. Not to rub at the spot. Not to check if he was marked. Not to let her have the satisfaction of making him doubt the reality of potentially being marked. He'd have to leave and check in privacy. But how would he even know?
"If you're satisfied with the outcome," he began, less confident in his words this time round, "then what is the point of the theatrics?"
What is the point of the theatrics? That was an excellent question, one she hadn’t quite expected from the Entity. She sat back in her chair, quietly considering her answer as she took another draft of wine.
“The simple answer is that I wanted to illustrate my point,” he explained, but her eyes were no longer boring into Bass’s. She was looking elsewhere, focused more on her own words than how they were affecting her guest. “I was… admittedly upset,” to massively understate her anger at the insult, “and I wanted to ensure that my point got across.”
She paused, debated whether she wanted to reveal more than that. She certainly could double down, even if it would make her seem more vindictive than she liked, but… She genuinely did respect Bass. She even liked him, to a certain extent. She valued his perspective and appreciated his unorthodox method of dealing with mortals, even enjoyed his choice of aesthetics when it came to that. And as much as his actions infuriated her, she couldn’t help but admire his boldness.
Eventually, she settled on a decision. “The more complex answer is… Hopefully one you will understand,” she began, allowing herself to look back at Bass with a much less intense gaze. “As I’m sure I’ve explained before, I do not hold full control of my domain the way other Entities do for theirs. I share mine with my siblings. And while I may act as the… Executive power, I still have to share all the energy we get from our quarry with seven others.”
She paused, swirling her wine around her glass idly. “That means that, were I to get in a genuine toe to toe combat with another Entity, it is entirely likely I would not win. If I am to maintain control of what I have and prove that I am powerful and worthy of respect in my own right, I have to show it in other ways. And, yes darling, that includes theatrics.”
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jake’s breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evan’s traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didn’t fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. He’d just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
“I’ve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,” he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. “And I don’t need any growth.” There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach over…
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Jake held onto his wrench, wielding it like a weapon. Which, given the circumstances, wasn’t completely off the mark.
“Nothing fucking decays here,” he shot back, taking another swing at the robot’s arm with the wrench. Unfortunately Hux was a lot more sturdy than the canid design. Hitting at the arm didn’t do anything but frustrate him.
His legs curled instinctively to his chest when he was lifted up, his fingers curling into the collar of his shirt to keep the fabric from choking him. “What fucking testing? What are you even testing for?” His eyes flickered over to the tables and pods of failed experiments, and his blood ran cold at the thought that he might already know the answer. “There’s nothing weird about me!”
"Without growth, there is only stagnation-n." Which was likely the closest thing to accepting a correction as he was likely to give.
"All life forms have ad-dvantages and disadvantages-s. I will prune and graft as needed to opt-timize." He continued, lurching towards an empty pod with clear intent to toss Jake inside of it. The pod next to it had a misshapen form inside that gave a little twitch as they passed it.
"Further testing is required to determine your str-rengths."
Jake stared at the unfortunate test subject with his one good eye, feeling bile rise in his throat. No matter what the testing entailed he doubted it would have the mercy to kill him quickly. Or at all, for that matter.
Actually, what would happen to him if this didn’t kill him? If it just kept him alive, barely functioning but still conscious in the pod? Would the Entity take him back anyway to keep running her trials? Or would he be trapped there in a new kind of hell?
He really didn’t want to find out.
Jake stopped hitting at Hux’s arm with the wrench, instead clinging onto it like a stubborn cat. If he couldn’t get the thing to let go on his terms, he was damn well going to make it difficult to toss him in the pod. “You don’t need to test for anything! There’s nothing about me that’s all that interesting!”
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jake’s breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evan’s traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didn’t fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. He’d just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
“I’ve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,” he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. “And I don’t need any growth.” There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach over…
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Jake held onto his wrench, wielding it like a weapon. Which, given the circumstances, wasn’t completely off the mark.
“Nothing fucking decays here,” he shot back, taking another swing at the robot’s arm with the wrench. Unfortunately Hux was a lot more sturdy than the canid design. Hitting at the arm didn’t do anything but frustrate him.
His legs curled instinctively to his chest when he was lifted up, his fingers curling into the collar of his shirt to keep the fabric from choking him. “What fucking testing? What are you even testing for?” His eyes flickered over to the tables and pods of failed experiments, and his blood ran cold at the thought that he might already know the answer. “There’s nothing weird about me!”
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jake’s breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evan’s traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didn’t fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. He’d just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
“I’ve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,” he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. “And I don’t need any growth.” There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach over…
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
Jake looked up as he heard the squelching sounds of the biopods. God, he hated those things. They were so… Unnatural. Bizarre in a grotesque way, like someone who had only ever vaguely heard of a living thing trying to recreate it out of scrap meat and chicken wire.
He sat up, wiping the remainder of drying blood out of his one good eye as he evaluated the situation. He couldn’t run. He could try to climb again, but the injuries he’d sustained made that a lost cause. He could hope that the robot would kill him quickly, but unlike the other killers he didn’t seem actively homicidal.
It was worse. He wanted to harvest.
Jake clenched his jaw at the thought of this thing pulling parts out of his body and leaving him to die in agony, but there wasn’t much he could do to stop it. Brace for it, maybe. Or try and convince it otherwise.
“What do you want?” Jake asked, a bit more tersely than was probably good for him.
Jake's words were entirely ignored as irrelevant. Hux was more busy inspecting and evaluating both Jake and the situation at large. He clomped about on his surprisingly small metal feet, head twisting and turning this way in that with the occasional twitches. His grasping appendage reached out and pinched a knife in Jake's shoulder between his fingers and pulled it out to hold it up to his face for inspection. Ultimately, it was tossed aside, discarded as trash.
"Harvesting commence." He announced, raising up a limb once more, though it came down not on Jake, but on the chain, snapping it and the tip of the errant limb with the force put into the blow. Hux took note of this, dialing down the strength of his strikes internally before turning back to grab Jake.
Only having one good eye didn’t do him an wonders for depth perception. Jake flinched out of the way as the arm came down, inadvertently making the chain taut and easier to break by the force.
There was a moment where all he could do was blink in shock, but it was a moment long enough to give the robot plenty opportunity to snatch him off the ground and start walking off with him.
“Hey!” Jake twisted in its grip, trying to get decent leverage to kick at this thing. Back to being carried around like a sack of fucking potatoes, like he hadn’t already had enough of that before his role change. “Let go!”
"Cease your stru-uggles, little worm-m" That stutter was a glitch Hux would have to correct at some point. But it was 1435th on the Task List towards perfection.
Deeper into the breathing forest did Hux take them. The foliage itself rotted with his cybernetic invasion. Some of the "plants" themselves even flinched away at the sound of his stomping feet- a toothed "tree" even hissed as he passed. No matter. All would be studied and made useful in time.
"Perfection requires samples. Samples need collecting. Current query: multiple subjects with variance spotted. Hypothesis: Genetic changes provide similar subjects their unique abilities. Conclus-sion: Collection of subjects is nessicary to catalogue these changes."
Hm. Too much processing power went to explaination, as one of Hux's feet were misplaced upon the stairs of an overgrown ruin of a labratory, and failed to grasp the edge. He stumbled heavily, servos whirring to attempt to compensate for the sudden shift.
At least that answered his question, but it didn’t help the feeling of dread settling in his stomach. Jake had seen the way Hux took samples before, and to say it wasn’t pleasant was a major understatement.
Jake clenched his jaw and started bucking in the robot’s grasp, kicking at anything he could reach and prying at the metal hooks holding him. He was not in the mood for whatever the ai had in store for him.
Luckily, he’d just managed to pry one of the digits out of the way when Hux stumbled, giving him just enough leeway to drop to the ground and out of his grip. He was on his feet instantly and off like a shot, ignoring the pain radiating through his body while he searched for a place to hide.
There wasn’t much. As much as his instincts screamed at him to find a tree to climb or some foliage to tuck in, the environment here was too unfamiliar for that. He already learned the hard way that the plants here could be just as dangerous as the killers.
So that left the ship. As much as it seemed like a supremely bad idea to try and hide in there, it was probably his only option.
He rushed into the ship and looked around, mentally calculating his options. The organic goop covered large swaths of the ship, but there was just enough space under the tables that he could try to hide without touching that stuff.
Jake tucked himself under one of the tables and waited.
